Area News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                  

Contact:  Spencer Graves (408) 655-4567                                   

PALESTINIAN PEACE ACTIVIST TO SPEAK THIS WEEKEND MAY 4 AND 5

Kansas City, Missouri – 4/29/24

Doctor Mubarak Awad, Palestinian-American from Jerusalem, will speak on “Standing up for Palestine”, with baklava donated by the Jerusalem Café available at 1:30 PM for the event at 2-4 PM, on Saturday, May 4th at All-Souls  Unitarian Universalist Church, 4501 Walnut in Kansas City, followed by a Q&A session.

Awad Mubarak is a Christian Palestinian, born in Jerusalem in 1943. He has a PhD in psychology and has US citizenship. In 1983 he founded the Palestinian Centre for the Study of Nonviolence in Jerusalem. He was expelled by Israel in 1988 for organizing nonviolent civil disobedience in the First Intifada.  He then founded Nonviolence International, advocating for active nonviolence and nonviolent campaigns worldwide.

In the session about events in Gaza and calling for a ceasefire, ideas to be discussed include actions that people can take.  These include contacting senators and representatives, participating in peaceful demonstrations and events, putting up yard signs protesting the treatment of Gazans, advising religious communities to host a educational forums, and how to contribute to humanitarian aid for the region.

Dr. Awad will also speak at the 9:30 All-Souls forum on Sunday, May 5 to be broadcast on community radio station KKFI 90.1 FM May 14^th 7-8 PM, and the event will also be available later on the YouTube “AllSoulsKC” the second “Forum”.

Donations requested.  Net proceeds will go to the Palestinian American Medical Association (PAMA) for humanitarian aid. Contributions may be made  through the “donate” button on the ourfcm.org website, or by mailing a check to “Friends of Community Media”, 3707 Pennsylvania Ave, KC, MO 64111.  

Friends of Community Media is a 501(c)3 Kansas City non-profit organization founded in 2007, with the goal of promoting community-based media.  It also assists local groups to create independent media, influence existing media, and promote diverse media ownership.

In its history it has conducted the “Media 4 Us week” literacy event, sponsored progressive media awards, brought in guest speakers on media topics, worked with the United Minority Media Association, and conducted media literacy classes. 

Information on this event and on Friends of Community Media may  found on the group’s website:  ourfcm.org.

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Friends of Community Media is now a co-sponsor for the Oct. 29th session of Community of Reason. This program (2-4 PM CST) will feature Romary Daval, General Secretary of “Un Bout des Médias” (translates – a purpose for the media), speaking to us via Zoom from Paris.

“Un Bout des Médias” is roughly a French counterpart to the U.S. Freepress.net but their activism program seems to be getting more traction than the media reform movement in the US is getting. They actively raise funds for nonprofit journalism organizations giving journalists more power in editorial decisions than may be possible in the U.S. due to legal structures.

For information:

http://www.communityofreasonkc.org/